Significant Passage:
“Lucius? Did you see that whatchamacallit on TV today?” In a way, I was relieved to talk about TV instead of art history. Although I used to be a PBS snob, I now found myself watching the shows the rest of the philistines in here enjoyed. We were addicted to the Red Sox and the Patriots; we kept meticulous score of their league standings depending on the time of year, and we debated the fairness of umpire and ref calls as if they were law and we were Supreme Court judges. Sometimes, like us, our teams had their hopes dashed; other times we got to share their Super Bowl. But there hadn’t been any televised games today, and with the cable on the blitz, there’d barely been anything worth watching. “That thing for the doctors,” Shay said, struggling to find the right words. “There was a little girl –“ “The fundraiser? The one up at the hospital?” “That little girl,” Shay said. “I’m going to give her my heart.” Before I could respond, there was a loud crash and the thud of flesh smacking against the concrete floor. “Shay?” I called. “Shay?!” I pressed my face up against the Plexiglas lining the cell door. I couldn’t see Shay at all, but I heard something rhythmic smacking his cell door. “Hey!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Hey, we need a CO down here!”

In this passage, Shay is talking to his cell neighbor, Lucius, about how he wants to give Claire Nealon his heart. He then throws himself against a wall in an effort to die. I chose this passage, because it starts the whole story. When Shay decides to give Claire his heart, everyone starts freaking out. All the inmates start making fun of him and trying to get him to crack. Father Micheal trys to help Shay in an effort to clear his own concience. Maggie trys to get the court to have Shay hanged, instead of lethally injected. And June and Claire have to learn to forgive Shay for the awful thing that he did. This passage also shows the great lengths that Shay will go to make sure that Claire gets his heart. He is willing to commit suicide, just to make June forgive him for taking away one daughter.

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